Purpose

Proposed
decision
 

(a) 
Approve the adoption and implementation of the Education
Accessibility Strategy 2025-28.

              

(b) 
Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Children’s,
Young People and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member
for Education and Skills, to refresh and/or make revisions to the
strategy where changes do not require additional governance.
 

(c) 
Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Children’s,
Young People and Education to take relevant actions, including but
not limited to, entering into and finalising the terms of relevant
contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary, to implement the
above decision.
 
Background
 
Schedule 10 of the Equality Act
2010 (the “Act”) places a duty on the local authority
to prepare a written accessibility strategy relating to the schools
it is responsible for. It also places a duty on responsible bodies
of schools (i.e. governing bodies and trusts) to prepare a written
accessibility plan.
 
In general, accessibility is
about making sure a person is not excluded from something because
of their disability. It is about removing barriers so that someone
with a disability can do what they need to, in a similar amount of
time and effort as someone who does not have a
disability.
 
This strategy must set out how
the local authority and its maintained schools currently ensure
education is accessible for pupils with SEND, and what steps will
be taken to further improve accessibility in the three
areas:
 
1.       increasing the
extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the
schools’ curriculums;
2.       improving the
physical environment of the schools so that disabled pupils are
able to take increased advantage of educational benefits,
facilities or services provided or offered by the
schools;
3.       improving the
delivery to disabled pupils of information which is readily
accessible to pupils who are not disabled.
 
Removing barriers empowers
people with disabilities and helps them to be as independent as
possible.
 
The Education
Accessibility Strategy 2025-28 has been drafted.  This will be consulted on prior to presentation to
the Children’s, Young People and Education Cabinet
Committee.
 

How the proposal will support Framing
Kent’s Future 2022-26:

 

The proposal will support:

 

Priority 1: Levelling Up

To maintain KCC’s strategic role in supporting schools in
Kent to deliver accessible, high quality education provision for
all families.

 

Priority 4: New Models of Care and
Support
 

Respond to national
policy changes in SEND provision, work with SEND families to
rapidly improve the service provided to SEND children and work with
mainstream schools so more can accept and meet the needs of
children with SEND, increasing choice and proximity of school
places.

 

How the proposal will support Securing
Kent’s Future 2022-26:

 

The proposal will support:

 
Objective 2: Delivering savings from
identified opportunity areas to set a sustainable 2024/25 budget
and MTFP.
 

By
supporting schools to be as accessible as possible we will be
seeking to ensure that there is accessible school provision in each
of the 12 districts/boroughs. This will reduce the need for pupils
to travel distances to access school places thus reducing the
impact on the Home to School transport budget. In addition, by
ensuring that we have up to date accessibility information we can
strategically target capital funding, providing best value for
money, support and budget sustainability.

 

Financial Implications

 

Capital:

Currently,
£750,000 is allocated each financial year from the Annual
Planned Enhancement Budget for School Access Initiative works. In
2024-25, the total budget for SAI works was £1.9m (including
£1.2m roll forward from previous years). This budget has been
fully committed to projects due to be completed in either 24-25 or
25-26.

Revenue:

Accessibility audits
in KCC maintained schools have been completed between 22-23 and
24-25 at a total one-off revenue cost to the general fund of
approximately £450,000 to inform the future strategy. These
costs have been reported against the “other schools
services” key service budget line. There are no specific
roles within the LA dedicated to accessibility instead a range of
staff currently advise schools on accessibility and curriculum
access, many of whom are charged to the Special Educational Needs
revenue budget, most of which are funded from the High Needs Block
of the Dedicated Schools Grant. Staff in the infrastructure service
also support when specific building works are identified/ scoped /
planned or agreed.

There are no
additional revenue costs expected with this proposal.
Implementation of the policy will be administered through existing
resources.
 

Decision

As Cabinet Member
for Education and Skills I agree to:
 

(a) 
Approve the adoption and implementation of the Education
Accessibility Strategy 2025-28

              

(b) 
Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Children’s,
Young People and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member
for Education and Skills, to refresh and/or make revisions to the strategy where changes do not
require additional governance.
 

(c) 
Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Children’s,
Young People and Education to take relevant actions, including but
not limited to, entering into and
finalising the terms of relevant contracts or other legal
agreements, as necessary, to implement the above
decision.